Funeral for Clarence Dufault
January 13, 1998 (Gentilly)
Sympathy to family & friends…
When I met with Nora and the family yesterday they shared with me some of their memories of Clarence. They had even written out some stories about him that covered the sixty years plus that he and Nora have been married. As I read those stories I came to understand that Clarence truly enjoyed life.
Before retirement, the farm was his life. He truly enjoyed farming and the tractors. He never stopped working. Even family trips were planned around morning milking and feeding the cows. Yet he is remembered as always having time to help a neighbor need.
He enjoyed the annual winter butchering bee with the neighbors. It must have been a good time because as the family put it, “… a lot of sausage was made, thrown and worn.” After the work was done the group would feast on sausage and play cards. Speaking of cards, that was something else Clarence enjoyed and I understand he very seldom lost.
Clarence also enjoyed his family. He made sure that he taught all his children, grand children and great grandchildren his rules for card playing. He also enjoyed being a jokester. A peanut can filled with jumping snakes was one of his favorites with his grandchildren. Letters that Nora would send to the children and grand children usually contained Clarence’s contributions. These contributions sometimes included, torn bits of paper, crushed corn flakes, or pieces of gum meticulously taped to the backs of letters. Clarence truly loved his children, grand children and great grand children.
He enjoyed too the few months he and Nora live in Cornell, Washington. He enjoyed being near family and he enjoyed and was fascinated with picking fruit right from the orchard.
But, as his family said, “above all Clarence’s life shone with his devotions to God, the Church and Nora.” Clarence was devoted to God and the Church. Clarence served our community as an altar server with Leo and Harvey at funerals. Even after Nora and Clarence moved to Crookston, they still stayed connected to St. Peter’s Church. We used to mail the St. Peter’s bulletin to them every week. Maybe that is why he told Flossie Benoit after Mass one Sunday that he wanted “Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord” sung at his funeral. Maybe he wanted that hymn sung because he understood that God calls all of us to live a life that shines with our devotion to God, the Church and our loved ones.
We are saddened at the loss of Clarence. He was a man who was full of life humor and love. He touched lives of many people and will be missed by family and friends. As we remember Clarence, we are reminded that we too are called to “Walk in the Light of the Lord.” And we “Walk in the Light of the Lord” when, like Clarence, we live a life shining with devotion to God, the Church and our loved ones.
